From U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,016 it is known that alkylene oxides react with active hydrogen containing organic compounds, such as alcohols, phenols and polyols in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of barium phosphate. The separation of the barium phosphate still presents difficulties, because it is present in colloidal form in the reaction mixture. Removal of barium phosphate can only be carried out at a low temperature with a significant loss of alkoxylation product or with complicated working up procedures. The same applies for barium sodium phosphate, used as an alkoxylation catalyst.
A process has now been found in which these disadvantages are avoided.